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The 7th stage was won by Kurt Caselli, who replaced Marc Coma, injured, ahead of Chaleco Lopez and Olivier Pain, who maintains the lead in the overall classification in front of Chaleco Lopez, second at 6:06 minutes and David Casteu, third at 06:37 mins.

Team Honda HRC riders rode more conservatively today in order to save the machines and the tyres and to be in their best shape for tomorrow 492 km special stage. Argentinian Javier Pizzolito finished 16th and sits now in 12th place overall, 35:07 from Pain, while team mate Helder Rodrigues finished 19th and is now in 11th position, 31:32 behind the leader.

"It was a long day and it was cold when we reached the top at 4,975 meters" said Javier Pizzolito. "The stage was very fast but easy in terms of navigation. Now I will work on the bike and I will rest because Saturday is an important stage. "

A conservative ride also for Johnny Campbell, 70th, who didn’t push too hard in order to save the machine and the tyres. "We left the sands and dunes of Peru and Chile and today it was a complete different landscape. We could feel the altitude, but all in all it was fine. Now we will work on the machine to be ready for tomorrow’s 492-km long special stage" he said.

Javier Pizzolito "It was a long day and it was cold when we reached the top at 4,975 meters. The stage was very fast but easy in terms of navigation. Now I will work on the bike and I will rest because tomorrow is an important stage."

Helder Rodrigues reported: "It was a simple stage but very fast, I rode with a good pace but I didn’t want to take too many risks as I plan to attack. My bike worked well and I am confident for Saturday."